Opponents of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans during a protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Egypt’s military moved to tighten its control on key institutions Wednesday, even putting officers in the newsroom of state TV, in preparation for an almost certain push to remove the country’s Islamist president when an afternoon ultimatum expires. (Photo: AP Photo/Amr Nabil)The enormous crowd in Cairo’s Tahrir Square was deafening on Wednesday, as millions of Egyptians opposed to the rule of President Mohammed Morsi continued their defiant stand against the ruling government as they awaited the military council’s response to latest statements regarding the political impasse that has engulfed the nation.
The tensions in Egypt come from a complex triade of forces with Morsi supporters, consolidated within the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails, standing off against the secural, more liberal of the Tamarod–or rebel–coalition and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which has threatened to intercede in order to restore order.
Morsi has been defiant against calls for him to step aside by the populist movement opposed to his rule and on Tuesday said he would protect lay down his life in order to protect the legitimacy of the government.
“My life is the price for protecting the legitimacy [of the constitution],” Morsi said in a televised speech late on Tuesday.
Live shots from Tahrir Square via ONtv Live:
And this Common Dreams generated Twitter feed is tracking the latest developments from informed experts and sources on the ground in Egypt:
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